Drawer construction



March 4, 1952 w. A. BREWER DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 20, 1946 WILBUR A- BREWER Patented Mar. 4- raga DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Wilbur A. Brewer, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application September 20, 1946, Serial No. 698,096

1 Claim. (Cl. 3l2--343) acter indicated which may be readily provided'ioi' installation-inconnection with existing wooden or metal drawers or built in originally.

Another important object of my inventicn is to provide drawer supporting means of the cl acter indicatedwhich-can be manufacturer in suitable, durable and efficient-form at relatively low cost.

Other'important object s-andadvantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein merely for purposes of illustration a preferred embodiment thereof is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional View taken through a cabinet or the like on a plane alongside a drawer, and showing the drawer and my novel drawer supporting means in side elevation.

Figure 2 is a group perspective View on an enlarged scale, showing the relationship of certain elements of the drawer support means.

Figure 3 is an end view of the roller bracket.

Figure 4 is a perspective View of the anchor plate.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 generally designates a drawer, shown here in conventional relation to the back wall 6 and front wall 'I', of such as a cabinet or the like, the front wall having the drawer opening 8 through which the drawer 5 can be pulled out. In some arrangements of this type there is a horizontal member 9 below the drawer opening 8.

According to the present invention, I support the drawer 5 free of all sliding contact with the cabinet parts mentioned by means of roller brackets Hi, Ii! mounted on the horizontal member 9 or its equivalent, and a roller bracket guide ll, including the separable anchor plate 12 for its rear end secured on the back wall 5, and the attachment ear l3 on its front end secured on the member 9, and a guide roller l4 attached to the rear or inner end of the drawer and depending therefrom into the roller guide ll.

The roller brackets ill, of which a suitable numher are spaced on the member 9 in accordance I with the width and weight ofthe drawer 5, each consists of an inverted L-shaped plate with the foot l5 overlying the top of the member 9- and secured or riveted thereto as at E6 and with'the standard portion ll provided on its lowerend with a tooth l8 to bite into or make frictional engagement with the member 9.

From opposite sides of the standard'portion ll project rearwardly parallel a'rms it between whose extremities a ball-bearing roller 2c is carried for rolling contact with the bottom of the drawer 5. The rollers 26 support the forward part of the drawer 5 free of the opening 8 when the drawer is closed and so support intermediate parts of the drawer when in partly open positions.

The roller guide ll may be made from a single sheet of metal in -C-cross section, with the rear end open and the frontend provided with a turned up tab 2! with its upper part bored forwardly and horizontally to define the ear l3,

adapted to be screwed or riveted to the member 9.

The upper longitudinal flanges 22 of the guide i l, which define the narrow slot 23, have limited 5 forward portions 2 3 turned horizontally outward so as to enlarge the slot 23 to the full width of the guide it and thereby provide an opening 25 at the forward end of the guide through which the guide roller E i may be entered and withdrawn, permitting easily installing and removing the drawer 5 through the opening 8.

The rear open end of the roller guide ll fits over upper and lower lugs 26 cut and bent out from an anchor plate 2'? secured by screws or rivets 23 at each corner to the cabinet backwall 6.

The guide roller Hi comprises a vertically elongated plate 29 having a laterally inwardly bent portion Ell on its lower end, as shown in Figure 3, on the inner side of which is mounted a disk-like roller 3i. The upper part of the plate 29 has a right angle flange 32 provided with screw or rivet holes 33 which for convenience in mounting may be aligned with the roller 3i.

The guide roller flange 32 is screwed or riveted to the rear end 34 of the drawer Bnear the middle thereof and so that the roller 3i depends below the drawer into the roller guide I I, with the roller 35 rolling on the bottom of the guide under one of its flanges 22, so as to rollably support the rear of the drawer thereby.

In installing the drawer 5, the guide roller is inserted in the guide i l by tilting the drawer forwardly and downwardly and then passing the roller 3| and plate 29 downwardly through the guide opening 25, and then bringing the drawer into horizontal position and pushing it rearwardly through the opening 8, whereupon the drawer is rollably supported on rollers 3| and 20. Removal of the drawer 5 entirely from the cabinet opening 8 is accomplished by reversing the described manipulations.

It is obvious that my invention is applicable to the drawers of many types and forms of fumiture and fixtures and finds utility wherever ease of operation and secure and level mounting of a drawer is desired.

I claim:

In a drawer structure, horizontally spaced vertical front and rear support panels, said front panel being formed with a drawer opening, a pair of widely spaced brackets mounted at the rear of said front panel near the sides of and below the drawer opening, each of said brackets having roller means rising above the bottom of the drawer opening, a horizontal tubular guide extending between and secured at opposite ends of said rear panel and said front panel, said tubular guide comprising a bottom wall, laterally spaced sidewalls rising from said bottom wall, and horizontal flanges on the upper ends of the sidewalls extending toward each other into spaced relation to define a single relatively narrow guide slot extending longitudinally of said tubular guide, the upper surfaces of said flanges being on a level below the bottom of the drawer opening, a drawer extending horizontally through the drawer opening having a bottom rollably supported on said roller means and a rear end, and a guide member comprising a bracket secured to the rear end of the drawer, said bracket having a vertical plate portion depending below the drawer bottom and through said slot in the tubular guide, and a single roller on one side of said plate portion 4 extending below the lower end of said plate portion and rollably engaging the bottom wall of the tubular guide whereby the rear part of the drawer is supported, said depending plate portion being substantially the same width as said guide slot whereby said plate portion serves to prevent substantial sidewise displacement of the drawer relative to the tubular guide and'the drawer opening, said plate portion and said single roller together being thicker than the guide slot whereby upward tilting of the rear part of the drawer relative to said tubular guide is prevented by engagement of said single roller with the underside of one of said horizontal flanges, limited portions of said horizontal flanges near said front panel being cut away to provide an enlargement of said guide slot sufiicient to pass said depending plate portion and said single roller upwardly out of said tubular guide to permit forward removal of the drawer through the door opening in said front panel.

WILBUR A. BREWER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,135,704 Loftin et a1 Apr. 13, 1915 1,786,045 Vogt Dec. 23, 1930 1,851,855 Lindemann et al. Mar. 29, 1932 2,142,898 Harmon Jan. 3, 1939 2,202,209 Kennedy May 28, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 355,108 Great Britain Aug. 20, 1931 

